Offensive struggles were at an all-time high in the early season for the Park Hill girls’ basketball team (3-5) in the 39-23 home loss to Liberty North (6-1) on Dec. 15.
The Lady Trojans never scored double digits in any quarter and finished with more turnovers – with 25 total – than points. The Lady Eagles entered the night with five consecutive wins, but also had issues scoring early on.
After Liberty North made one free throw in the opening minute of the contest, McKenna Sonsa knocked down a pair with 5:47 left in the quarter to put Park Hill up 2-1. From that point on, there wasn’t another score until Sonsa made a layup on an inbound pass from Miah Crockett with less than 90 seconds left in the frame.
Park Hill’s Paige Barry (#14) goes up for a transition layup in the opening half of the Lady Trojans 39-23 defeat to Liberty North on Dec. 15.
Park Hill’s defense didn’t allow a single field goal in the opening quarter, but Liberty North did add two more points from the charity stripe with 33 seconds left in the first before Izzy Petznick beat the buzzer with a layup. That was the only shot attempt that the 6’0 sophomore forward took on the night and the Lady Trojans held a 6-3 lead.
The Lady Eagles sunk a pair of shots from behind the arc in the opening 1:34 in the second quarter – with Park Hill senior Maddie Crump doing the same between those two shots – and the game was tied at nine. Liberty North sunk another trey with right under four minutes left in the half and led the rest of the night.
Park Hill shot eight 3-pointers in the frame, with Lydia Keller knocking down one from the left wing with 49 seconds left to cut the deficit to 14-11. The Lady Eagles stole a bad Park Hill pass and took it the other direction for a late fast break bucket to go up 16-11 at the half.
Liberty North scored the first six points of the second half until Park Hill sophomore forward Boston Wand converted on a putback layup with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter. Lauren Bogle stole an inbound pass from Liberty North and went the distance in the fast break for the only other Park Hill bucket in the frame as the Lady Eagles led 24-15 heading into the final eight minutes.
Park Hill was unable to make a late run – or a field goal until a late 3-pointer by Crump in the final minute – with five of its eight fourth quarter points coming from the charity stripe. Wand finished the night with six points, seven rebounds and two steals, while Crump had six points, one block and one steal.
Before the loss to Liberty North, Park Hill had won two straight games against William Chrisman (3-4) on Dec. 5 and North Kansas City (2-5) on Dec. 8. Wand finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in the 45-36 victory over the Lady Bears and Keller ended with 11 points in the 38-30 win over the Lady Hornets.
Park Hill shot a season-best 40 percent from deep with 10 total 3-pointers against Smithville (4-1), but that wasn’t enough as the Lady Trojans lost 58-50 on Dec. 12. Park Hill will host Park Hill South (4-1) in a big rivalry game on Dec. 21 for the Lady Trojans’ final game of the calendar year.